Police Commissioner Andrew Coster announced that almost 1000 firearms and $5 million in cash has been seized with 800 people arrested in Operation Tauwhiro. Video / Marty Melville
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A former Central Soldiers street gang member who spent his entire young adulthood in prison after participating in Auckland’s infamous “Lovers Lane” crime spree in the mid-1990s has gone on to become a high-ranking member of the Rebels motorcycle gang.
But it’s a lifestyle he wants to put behind him so he can focus on being a better father, Inoke Tangitau, now 43, told a judge today as he appeared in Auckland District Court to be sentenced on firearms charges.
Tangitau was 17 years old in 1997 when he and three fellow underaged gang members received what was described at the time as record sentences for offenders their age.
The gang’s objective had been to obtain notoriety through crime, and they did so by targeting young couples parked in secluded spots at One Tree Hill, Bastion Point and Mount Roskill with “blitz-style” attacks described by police as designed to induce maximum terror. They would approach the vehicle from all sides, smashing windows before attacking and robbing the occupants.
In each case, they sexually attacked or harassed the female while restraining the male. The worst case - involving the gang rape of a 19-year-old who had been waiting for marriage to have sex and would later tell the court she had hoped to die as the attacks occurred - was described by the judge at their 1997 sentencing as a “barbaric and animalistic sexual frenzy”.
“It is inconceivable that there could be a more terrible example of sexual violation than what happened that night,” Justice Giles told the four youth offenders of their combined 40 charges that included rape, sodomy and aggravated robbery.
“These are adult crimes and they deserve adult treatment.”
Inoke was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. He was released around 2009 and hadn’t had any major offences over the past decade, he told Judge Kirsten Lummis today.
But on December 21 last year police arrived at his Orakei flat to execute a search warrant for an unrelated matter and found a loaded 16-inch pump-action shotgun behind the frame in the living room where Tangitau slept, court documents state.
At the time, he was serving as sergeant-at-arms for the Rebels gang.
Inoke Tangitau was a member of the Central Soldiers street gang during Auckland's infamous "Lovers Lane" attacks but he went on to become sergeant-at-arms for the Rebels motorcycle gang. He now says he wants to put gang life behind him.
“In explanation, the defendant stated that he had the shotgun for his own protection due to a gang conflict,” according to the agreed summary of facts for the case. “He also stated that he was holding it for someone else.”
He later pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm and two counts of unlawfully possessing ammunition. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of four years’ imprisonment.
Defence lawyer George Burns sought a sentence of community detention for his client, explaining that it would allow Tangitou to continue with his employment and for the solo parent to stay active with his young son’s schooling and extracurricular activities.
The lawyer also pointed to a cultural report authored by Jarrod Gilbert, a sociologist and prominent expert on New Zealand gangs, suggesting that his tough upbringing and having spent “his formative years in prison” would have influenced his outlook towards gangs.
“He’s adamant he wants to get back home, turn over a new leaf and remove himself from the factors that have been part of his life for quite a long time and do what’s right - for his son in particular,” Burns said.
Crown prosecutor Ben Kirkpatrick sought more strict home detention conditions, arguing that the court needs to take a stern approach with gang members who have armed themselves amid escalating violence in recent years.
He also suggested that Tangitau didn’t appear to be entirely upfront with report writers - saying at one point that the gun had been used for hunting and had been at the property for 10 years, so long that it had been almost forgotten, like furniture. But records show the gun had been stolen from another property in 2019, the prosecutor said.
Burns responded that his client had been confused about which gun was being discussed but wasn’t attempting to deceive.
Judge Lummis said the public are “rightly concerned” about gang tensions in Auckland. But she also commended him for his recent efforts to leave the gang and for having the insight to realise how “stupid” he had been to keep an unsecured, loaded gun in a house with a child.
“I realise how hard it can be for people to step away from gang life,” she said, adding that he needs to focus on being a role model for his son. “At 43 years of age, it is time to make better choices.”
Judge Lummis allowed Tangitau to serve six months of community detention with an overnight curfew rather than full house arrest. She also tacked on two years of intensive supervision, including judicial monitoring in which he’ll return to court every few months to address the judge.
“I will be checking that you are still working towards a goal” of leaving gang life, Lummis said, warning that if he reoffends “there won’t be the compassion that some would say I’ve shown you today”.
She also barred him from making contact with any gang associates, even if that means not attending a funeral.
“You’re not going to be part of it,” she said. “This is the beginning of a new you, and a positive path forward that is focused on your son.”
Tangitau wore a face mask to court as today’s hearing began but took it off immediately after the judge declined the Herald’s request to take a photo.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
